Fear the Fenton
by quishaweasley
Summary: Maddie was downstairs in the lab. She was conducting experiments as she had found the most peculiar thing. A Danielle-Dani-Phantom.


Maddie was downstairs in the lab. She was conducting experiments as the had found the most peculiar thing.

A Danielle-Dani-Phantom.

She looked to be an exact replica of Phantom, aside from her sex. As if she were a little sister.

Or a clone.

Maddie picked up her pad of paper and turned towards the containment device that housed the ghost girl. She appeared to be around 12 years old, but, being a ghost, she could be much older than that. Maddie doubted that though based on the way the girl was staring at the floor, eyes wide in fear.

Maddie pulled a few loose papers from her pad to study them. The girl had a higher than average amount of iron and copper in her ectoplasm. There were also a mixture of human red and white blood cells along with what Maddie believed to be the ghost equivalent to the leukocytes.

Do ghosts retain human characteristics shortly after death? Do their ghostly forms still mimic the functions that their human bodies once took part in?

Danielle is by far the youngest ghost she's managed to get ahold of. Maybe if she could get ahold of Phantom and run similar tests on him to see where he lies in comparison to Danielle and the other ghosts she's studied, she could find the answer.

Phantom's been around for a year now, so even the slightest difference could be beneficial to her studies.

Maddie picked up a small remote from the table to her right and pressed a button. The containment device light up with sparks and screams reverberated around the room.

She pressed the button again, turning the electricity off, and placed the remote back on the table to take a few notes.

 _Subject does not produce a ghostly wail when screaming from intense electrical stimulation._

Maddie looked up again, and her eyes widened at the sight before her.

The ghost girl's feet were pooling into ectoplasm and bubbles were erupted over what Maddie could see of her exposed skin. She lay across the ground, propped up by her arms, and panting heavily in exhaustion.

She raised her head and her eyes caught Maddie's.

They were filled with tears, pain, and shock.

This was the first test Maddie had conducted that was to this scale, and it seems as if the girl was not expecting it to go that far.

Danielle tried to push herself up, but her hand slipped on the ground and she fell back down. As she groaned at the impact, a flash of white appeared and a ring formed around her waist. Maddie watched as it traveled about halfway, revealing red and blue pieces of clothing, before the girl gasped and closed her eyes in concentration.

The rings receded and Danielle lay her head against her arms, catching her breath. As her breathing slowed, the ectoplasm spilling across the floor and bubbling from her arms formed back into feet and the human-pallor skin tone.

Maddie picked up her notepad again and began recording her findings when she heard the front door open and close.

Voices trailed down into the basement and Maddie recognized it as Danny and his friends.

"Haven't heard from…"

"...traveling?"

"...supposed to let me know before…"

The snippets of conversation faded away as they must've made their way to Danny's room.

Looking up from her notes, she could see the ghost girl looking in the direction of the stairs, pain forgotten, hope shining in her eyes.

Maddie picked up the remote again and turned up the voltage to the machine and pressed the button.

The screams began again, tearing through the lab. They were deafening, but still no where near lethal. She began recording more notes but she was interrupted as a fist collided with her cheek knocking her to the ground.

Eyes closed in pain, she held her face, lying on the ground beside the table. As she opened her eyes she could see an absolutely fuming Samantha Manson standing above her.

She was panting angry breaths and her hands were still clenched in fists as she towered above her. Turning her gaze over Sam's shoulder, Maddie could see Tucker attaching his PDA to the lock on the containment device. Soon, the lock clicked open and the door slid to the side with a hiss.

"No!" Maddie yelled, scrambling to get up. Her attempts were thwarted though as Sam placed a heavy combat boot forcefully into her chest.

Maddie looked back at the open cage, finally seeing Danny. He was kneeling in front of the ghost girl, who flung her arms around him as tears fell from her eyes. Danny helped her stand, but she was dizzy and almost fell back over.

Ectoplasm began pooling around her feet again, and Danny looked down at her in fear. Danielle looked up from her feet to Danny, whispering.

"I can't keep this up. I'm growing too weak, soon I'll-"

She was cut off by the ring of light appearing around her waist again. She forced it back, but it flickered in and out of existence.

Danny rushed to an old box of failed inventions and dug around until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out an old vial of ecto-dejecto. As he turned around though, Danielle was already falling to the floor, rings traveling over her head.

Maddie was in a daze as Danny rushed over and tipped the vial into Danielle's mouth. Her eyes kept flickering between the girl and Danny.

They had the same face, the same eyes, even their ears were the same shape.

Maddie was about to voice all the thoughts rushing through her mind when Danny sent her a look before disappearing with Danielle through the floor.

She gasped, looking up at Sam who still had her boot against her chest. Sam looked neither shocked or afraid, disgust merely marred her features as she glared down at Maddie.

Tucker was busy fiddling with the machinery, no doubt dismantling and rendering it useless, but soon he too was towering above her, resting a hand on Sam's shoulder. At this, Sam removed her boot from Maddie's chest and she sprang up off the floor.

"What was that?" Maddie screeched. "How can the ghost girl have the ability to transform like that? How can Danny phase through the floor when she was unconscious? Why do they-"

She stopped as she was struck across her face again, the slap whipping her head to the side. Gasping in pain she looked back to see Tucker pulling Sam away from her.

"You wanna know why this happened?" Sam screeched, fury rolling off her in waves. "The ghost portal? Danny's accident? He was inside when it happened. He tripped on a wire and fell into the on button that you built _on the inside of the portal_."

"What…" Maddie started, brows furrowed in confusion. "What does the accident have to do with this?"

Sam scoffed. "Ectoplasm fused with his DNA in that blast, Maddie. Why do you think all your scanners and weapons lock onto him? Why do you think he's never around during a ghost attack?"

Danielle's ghost form flashed in her mind, followed by the image of her son holding an identical girl.

"I thought… I thought he was afraid…" Maddie breathed.

Sam laughed at that. "Afraid? Your son has defeated a reality controlling freak, Pariah Dark, and an unstoppable future version of himself. Your son is the bravest person in this goddamn city."

No one spoke, the silence weighing over them as Maddie processed the information. When she spoke, it was in a hushed whisper.

"Danny is Phantom?"

"Yeah. Danny Phantom." Sam snapped out.

"Why didn't he tell us?"

The glare Sam sent her way was tangible, a force driving straight into her heart.

"And let the people who wanted to take him apart molecule by molecule know that public enemy number one was living under their roof? Give them easy access?

"Danny wasn't afraid of fighting ghosts. He was afraid of you."

And with that, Sam stalked back up the stairs. Tucker followed a few seconds later, trailing after her.

Maddie was left alone in the basement, dread churning in her stomach.

" _He was afraid of you."_


End file.
